7 Ways to Make the Best Steak of Your Life

Steaks are a treat, often one with a price tag to match. So when you do put them on the menu, make sure they have everything those commercials promise: the sizzle and sear, the dark brown crust, the fat and brawn. Start with these seven small tweaks, then experiment as you like until your favorite steakhouse is, well, your house.

1. Skip the Marinade

Most marinade ingredients, besides sugar and salt, don’t work their way to the meat’s interior and instead just sit on the surface. When the meat hits a hot skillet, the marinade on the exterior splatters, while any remaining in the bowl ends up down the drain. Is a marinade worth the ingredients, time and extra steps? Not typically. Simply pat your meat dry and cover all sides with salt.

2. Coat It With Lots of Black Pepper

There’s a reason beef and black pepper pair up in many classic dishes (Texas brisket, pastrami, pepper steak, steak au poivre). As the steak cooks, the peppercorns toast, growing darker and more intense, so it can cut through any richness and enhance the meat’s natural essence. When you season your steak with salt, add a few (or more than a few) generous grinds of black pepper. Opt for coarsely ground peppercorns (finely ground will burn more quickly), and massage them into the meat to help them stick.

3. Dot With Compound Butter

If you want to believe in the magic of cooking, swipe plain, softened butter on a just-cooked steak and watch a silky sauce form in real time. But mash seasonings, like garlic, herbs, citrus zest, green curry paste or blue cheese, into the butter and it’ll be so much better, as the butter’s fat and the steak’s heat amplify their flavors. Dot the steak with the compound butter as it rests on a cutting board, so the juices and butter mingle and turn into a low-effort, high-impact sauce. Serve more butter at the table.

4. Serve With an Herb Sauce

A bright, fresh, green herb sauce is everything a steak isn’t. So pair them. Any sauce made with olive oil, soft herbs (such as parsley, cilantro, dill or mint), acid (like lemon or vinegar) and maybe another punch like chiles, capers or scallions would be excellent -- whether that’s sauce rof, chimichurri or salsa verde.

5. Eat With Tomatoes

That wheel of tomato on your burger or the pico de gallo on your steak taco isn’t just there for a pop of color. Like herb sauces, tomatoes step in where steak falls short, offering bursts of fresh, sweet juiciness and accentuating steak’s savoriness without any additional richness.

6. Slice Thinly and Cook Over High Heat

Unlike cooking a whole steak, stir-frying thin slices maximizes browning and allows every bite to soak up more sauce. Start by thinly slicing a well-marbled steak -- such as sirloin, boneless short rib, New York strip or rib-eye -- against the grain. For cleaner cuts, freeze the steak for 15 or so minutes to firm it up before slicing. Then, sear the slices at a very high heat. They will brown in minutes. There’s no need to worry about the internal temperature -- the pieces would be too thin to stick a thermometer into, anyway.

6. Use a Thermometer

The easiest way to an excellent steak isn’t something you do, but rather something you don’t: not overcooking it. While there are many ways to tell if a steak is done -- cutting into it, pressing its exterior -- the soundest guarantee comes from using a meat thermometer. For the most accurate reading, follow Sohla El-Waylly’s advice and, using tongs to hold the steak upright, “insert an instant-read thermometer through the side of the steak into the center.” As it rests, the steak will continue cooking, so aim for 120 to 125 degrees for medium-rare or 130 to 135 degrees for medium before transferring it to a cutting board.

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Recipe: Air-Fryer Steak with Garlic-Herb Butter

A classic cast-iron steak recipe is hard to beat, but cooking steak in the air fryer is a reliable way to nail the perfect internal temperature in a fraction of the time thanks to the machine’s circulating high heat. Both the steak seasoning and herb butter work well for other occasions and can be easily scaled up, stored and saved for future use. The small amount of brown sugar doesn’t add much sweetness, instead, it helps encourage caramelization. Fast and dependable, this may become your new go-to way to cook steak on a weeknight. In creating this recipe, Eleanore Park tried cooking more than five different cuts of steak in the air fryer to reach the ideal result. The recipe tester then tried another cut and also helped adjust the timing to make sure the steak comes out perfectly medium-rare every time.

By Eleanore Park

Yield: 2 servings

Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

For the steak:

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Kosher)

3/4 teaspoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 (12- to 16-ounce) boneless steak, such as sirloin, strip or ribeye, about 1 inch thick

Olive oil, for brushing, or olive oil cooking spray

Flaky salt, for serving

For the garlic-herb butter:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), softened

3 garlic cloves, grated

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon flaky salt

Preparation:

1. Bring steak to room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Heat air fryer to 400 degrees, if preheating is recommended.

2. Combine salt, brown sugar, pepper, coriander and paprika in a small bowl. Pat steak dry with paper towels and brush with olive oil. Rub the spice blend all over the steak. (Steak can be seasoned and left uncovered in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours.)

3. Transfer the steak to the air fryer basket. Cook for 5 minutes. Flip the steak and cook to medium-rare, 3 to 5 minutes more. (Remove the steak from the air fryer once an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reaches 130 degrees; it will increase 5 to 10 degrees while resting and eventually climb to 135, or medium-rare.) Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let it rest for 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, make the garlic-herb butter: In a small bowl, combine butter, garlic, parsley, thyme, rosemary, lemon zest and flaky salt until well combined. (Any leftover garlic-herb butter can be kept in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 1 month or frozen for up to 3 months.)

5. Add a spoonful of the garlic-herb butter on top of the steak, sliced or unsliced, and top with any leftover chopped herbs, pepper and more flaky salt, if desired.

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Recipe: Grilled Skirt Steak With Smoky Cucumber Chimichurri

With just a few simple seasonings (salt, pepper and oregano), quick-cooking skirt steak needs only the light smoke of a grill to amplify its beefy flavor. For this vibrant chimichurri, cucumbers are charred on the grill, too, resulting in a smoky, tangy and herbaceous sauce that cuts through the rich beef. Enjoy leftovers as stuffed pita sandwiches the next day: Mix the cucumber chimichurri with some plain Greek yogurt and dollop into pitas, then top with the sliced steak and any fresh salad options you might have around, like chopped lettuce and tomatoes.

By Kay Chun

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

Neutral oil, for greasing grates

3 Persian cucumbers (about 8 ounces), quartered lengthwise

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Kosher salt and pepper

1 1/2 pounds skirt steak, cut into three equal pieces

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2 packed cup parsley leaves, finely chopped

1 tablespoon chopped capers, plus 1 tablespoon brine

1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Preparation:

1. Heat grill to medium and grease grates well (or heat a cast-iron grill pan over medium and lightly grease).

2. On a rimmed sheet pan, toss cucumbers with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to evenly coat; season with salt and pepper. Grill, turning occasionally, until nicely charred all over, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let cool.

3. Meanwhile, rub steak all over with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil; sprinkle with the oregano and season with salt and pepper. Grill over medium-high until nicely charred, about 2 minutes per side for medium-rare and 3 minutes for medium. Transfer to a large plate.

4. While the meat rests, finely chop the grilled cucumbers and transfer to a medium bowl. Add parsley, capers and caper brine, 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice, garlic, crushed red pepper and the remaining 6 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper and mix well. Add more lemon juice to taste.

5. Thinly slice the steak across the grain and transfer to a serving platter. Serve with the chimichurri on the side.

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Recipe: Black Pepper Beef and Cabbage Stir-Fry

Coarsely crushed black peppercorns star in this quick weeknight dish, which is built primarily from pantry staples. Don’t be shy about adding the entire tablespoon of pepper, as it balances out the richness of the beef and adds a lightly spicy bite to the dish. A quick rub of garlic, brown sugar, salt, pepper and cornstarch seasons the beef; the cornstarch helps tenderize the beef and later imparts a silky texture to the sauce. Feel free to marinate the beef up to 8 hours ahead and cook when you’re ready. If leftovers remain, tuck them into a crunchy baguette or roll them into a wrap.

By Sue Li

Yield: 2 to 4 servings

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns, coarsely crushed with the bottom of a cup or pan

3 garlic cloves, grated

2 teaspoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

Kosher salt

3/4 pound sirloin steak, thinly sliced crosswise

3 tablespoons sunflower oil or other neutral oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 head small green cabbage (about 8 ounces), thinly sliced

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, crushed with your fingertips

2 scallions, thinly sliced

Cooked rice, for serving

Preparation:

1. Add peppercorns, garlic, brown sugar, cornstarch and 1 teaspoon salt to a medium bowl and stir to combine. Add sliced steak and toss to coat.

2. Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high. Add steak and cook, stirring frequently, until some of the edges are lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Add soy sauce and toss beef to coat, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beef to a bowl or plate.

3. Add cabbage to skillet, spread in an even layer and let cook, undisturbed, for 1 minute so that some pieces caramelize in the pan. Toss and cook cabbage, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in vinegar and season with salt.

4. Add steak and any juices back to the skillet, and stir until well combined with the cabbage and warmed through, about 1 minute. Top with toasted sesame seeds and scallions; serve with rice.

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Recipe: Harissa-Grilled Steak With Juicy Tomatoes

What makes this steak so great is that it’s just as delicious warm for dinner as it is cold and eaten for lunch. When choosing harissa for the marinade, look for it in a tube or can, which will have a thick, paste-like consistency (we want that explosive, concentrated red chile flavor), rather than jarred harissa, which tends to be saucier and has less potent flavor. Yogurt is the actual secret ingredient here, because the sugars will caramelize and help the meat develop a beautiful brown crust. If you have time, let the steak marinate in the yogurt mixture for a few hours or overnight to let it tenderize the meat, but if you only have 15 minutes while the grill heats up (see Tips), it’ll still be delicious.

By Andy Baraghani

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup concentrated harissa paste (preferably tubed or canned; see Tips)

2 tablespoons full-fat Greek yogurt

4 fat garlic cloves, finely grated

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 pounds flank steak

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 medium red onions

1 1/2 pounds medium tomatoes, cut into wedges

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Flatbread (such as pita or lavash)

Preparation:

1. Make the marinade: Mix the harissa, yogurt, garlic and 1 tablespoon oil in a large bowl.

2. Using paper towels, pat the steak dry and season generously with salt and pepper. Add the steak to the bowl and, using tongs, toss the steak so that the marinade covers the meat. Let marinate at room temperature while you prepare the onions and heat the grill, or cover and chill for up to 12 hours.

3. Peel the onions, leaving the root end attached, then slice into 1-inch wedges. Transfer to a large baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine.

4. Heat the grill on medium-high for 10 minutes. When hot, transfer the steak directly from the marinade to the grill, then arrange the onions on the grates. Grill until the onions are nicely charred all over, 2 to 3 minutes per side, and the steak has formed a beautiful caramelized crust on both sides, 4 to 6 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer onions and steak to the baking sheet as they finish cooking. Let the steak rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

5. While the steak is resting, combine the tomatoes, vinegar, remaining 3 tablespoons oil and the grilled onions in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper and toss together. Warm the bread on the grill.

6. Slice the steak against the grain and serve with the tomatoes and onions (and their juices) and the warmed flatbread.

Tips:

If you only have jarred harissa, try marinating the steak overnight to extract as much flavor as possible from the chile paste.

This recipe is intended for outdoor grilling, but if you want to give it a go indoors, be sure your kitchen is well ventilated and be ready to crack some windows. The grilling of the marinated steak will generate smoke.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Copyright 2026 The New York Times Company